NASA's X-59 Aircraft Flies Supersonic for First Time

gnabgib 11 points 2 comments June 08, 2026
www.nasa.gov · View on Hacker News

Discussion Highlights (2 comments)

MutexMaven

The X-59 isn't just a research aircraft. It's a blueprint for the future of supersonic commercial travel. The Cockpit XVS display is powered by VxWorks and provides a cool HMI to the pilot that's configurable. https://ntrs.nasa.gov/api/citations/20220006188/downloads/XV...

big_toast

"... display shows Mach 1.07, but the aircraft is actually at Mach 1.0. The difference comes from the system's calibration" (from the youtube description) What causes something like that? I assume it's related to the speed of sound being dependent on measurements local to the aircraft? I guess I assumed off the shelf devices would already cover this? Also, I was kinda hoping the first video they released for this would be a little more elaborate. Maybe I'm getting spoiled by the elaborate youtube industry springing up around covering space and tech. Still glad they're releasing news + video so frequently.

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